Monster-in-Law (2005)

The love life of Charlotte is reduced to an endless string of disastrous blind dates, until she meets the perfect man, Kevin. Unfortunately, his merciless mother will do anything to destroy their relationship.

Director:

Robert Luketic

Writer:

Anya Kochoff

Stars:

Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Lopez	...	Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini
Jane Fonda	...	Viola Fields
Michael Vartan	...	Dr. Kevin Fields
Wanda Sykes	...	Ruby
Adam Scott	...	Remy
Monet Mazur	...	Fiona
Annie Parisse	...	Morgan
Will Arnett	...	Kit
Elaine Stritch	...	Gertrude
Stephen Dunham	...	Dr. Paul Chamberlain
Randee Heller	...	Beverly Hills Dog Owner
Mark Moses	...	Coffee Shop Customer
Tomiko Fraser	...	Coffee Shop Clerk
Rochelle Flexer	...	Dr. Patel's Nurse
Wayne Nickel	...	George

Storyline

After years of looking for Mr. Right, Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini finally finds the man of her dreams, Kevin Fields, only to discover that his mother, Viola, is the woman of her nightmares. A recently fired news anchor who is afraid she will lose her son the way she has just lost her career, Viola determines to scare off her son's new fiancé by becoming the world's worst mother-in-law. While Viola's long-time assistant Ruby does her best to help Viola execute her crazy schemes, Charlie decides to fight back and the gloves come off as the two women battle it out to see just who is the alpha-female.

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Plot Keywords:

mother in law | breakdown | scheme | dog walker | mansion | 

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Taglines:

This relationship is going to be a real mother.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex references and language

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema [us]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Schwiegermonster

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,307,593 (Italy) (7 October 2005)

Gross:

$1,307,593 (Italy) (7 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, BenderSpink, Spring Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jane Fonda said that she based her character on her ex-husband Ted Turner.

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Goofs

Viola passes out face-first in a bowl of tripe, her hands clutched close to her chest, palms up. The shot switches to Charlie, then back to Viola. Viola's hands are now palms-down on the table.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[Charlie sitting at her desk at home. Phone rings. Charlie lets the answering machine pick up and listens to the recording]
Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini: [Answering machine message] Hi, it's Charlie. Leave a message.
[Answering machine beeps to signal beginning of message]
Carol, from LA Temp Agency: [Leaving message on answering machine] Hi Charlie, it's Carol from the L.A. Temp Agency. Listen, Dr. Patel's office needs you for tomorrow. Is that ok? Let me know. Bye.
[Answering machine beeps signaling end of message]
Remy: [Charlie sketching]
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Worst of 2005 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Down with You"
Written by Ellie Lawson, Leor Dimant, John O'Brien, Jeff Phillips,
Joe Macre. and Rick Witkowski
Performed by Ellie Lawson
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing
Contains a sample of "Safety in Numbers"
Performed by Crack the Sky
Courtesy of Lifesong Records, a division of PKM Productions LLC

User Reviews

Enjoyable to watch as long as you don't take it too seriously

Charlotte Honeywell (Jennifer Lopez) has had problems finding the perfect man until she starts dating Kevin (Michael Vartan). Thing are going well until she meets his overbearing mother (Jane Fonda), a recently fired news anchorwoman who takes her aggression out on her son's new girlfriend with help from her assistant Ruby (Wanda Sykes). But Charlotte is ready to fight back.

The premise is rather old and it has been done to death recently. Shrek 2, Meet the Fockers, Guess Who and now this film. I still enjoy this type of comedy but this is the worse one of the previous four. However, Monster-in-Law is still an enjoyable movie. It doesn't offer anything memorable but it's pretty entertaining while it lasts. I'll admit the movie is highly unrealistic from the cruel stuff Fonda and Lopez do to each other to the nice home Lopez owns despite the fact that it looks way too expensive for her to own. Some of the cruel things they do to each other is pretty funny while other times it's just a bit too much. Luckily, there really isn't too much of this material since the movie is only 100 minutes long. So the film hardly gets boring and it ends before it wears out its welcome.

The acting is alright, with a few performances really saving the movie. Jane Fonda gives a really funny performance as Charlotte. She does go over the top but her performance is still a lot of fun to watch on screen. Jennifer Lopez gives a bland performance, nothing special. Her chemistry with Fonda is weak and their scenes aren't as good as they could have been. Wanda Sykes offers a funny performance as Ruby. Her scenes with Jane Fonda are the best things about the movie though she gets a little annoying. Michael Vartan is kind of just there and he doesn't really do anything special.

Robert Luketic directs and he does an okay job. He could have made the film a little more realistic and a little less sitcomish but the movie turned out okay. The audience I saw this with were really into it and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Obviously, critics won't like this film but those looking for a nice comedy should check out this movie. It is a little mean spirited and predictable but this doesn't take away too much from the movie. In the end, Monster-in-Law is a good time passer, nothing more or less. Rating 7/10